Landlord Credit Bureau (LCB), Canada’s leader in rent reporting, today announced the brand launch of FrontLobby. The FrontLobby brand will drive forward its mission to empower the businesses and lives of landlords and property managers while enriching the lives of responsible tenants.
Landlords often find themselves faced with multiple applicants for highly-desired properties. In such cases, the deciding factor often comes down to something concrete and quantifiable, such as applicants’ credit histories. Unfortunately, renting to someone with little or no credit history can pose known and unknown risks and challenges for landlords.
There is a lot of confusion floating around about the idea of a credit report for landlords. For instance, some believe that you can’t obtain a tenant credit check due to privacy laws. That isn’t the case. It is true that you must have a “permissible reason” (according to the FTC) to obtain a credit report. It just so happens that someone wishing to rent your property qualifies as a permissible reason to run a tenant credit check. Below are a few other facts and details landlords need to know about tenant screening that go beyond a tenant rental credit check.
Working as a landlord can be a stressful job. Preparing the property, reviewing applications, interviewing applicants, choosing the right tenant, and performing the necessary tenant screening, including credit checks, background searches, and past landlord references all take time. When things move too slowly, it is possible to miss out on great renters, as they may find another property. Thankfully, Landlord Credit Bureau is working to change that.
Many renters have fallen victim to a similar story — they’re stuck renting because their credit isn’t good enough to purchase a home, and they’re struggling to get their credit rating up because the majority of their income goes toward their rent. Thankfully, Landlord Credit Bureau’s CEO, Zachary Killam, is helping renters improve their credit by working alongside Equifax (one of the three credit bureau giants) to include rent payments as a part of the credit reporting process.
Many landlords and tenants alike have struggled with creating a positive landlord-tenant relationship. From wanting repairs to wanting rent on time, there are many issues that can cause a rift between property owners and renters. Landlord Credit Bureau understands how important it is for a landlord and tenant to get along — landlords enjoy the possibility of working with the same tenant over multiple years, and renters enjoy a positive relationship and a great reference when it’s time to move somewhere new.
A new Angus-Reid study says 39 per cent of those polled say they don’t know what they’re going to do when pandemic assistance measures like the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) come to an end.
It’s a refrain Mortgage Broker News readers will be all too familiar with: “Why isn’t my credit score better? I pay my rent every month. How can that not matter?”
Rent is the biggest monthly expense for independent Canadians who don’t own their own homes. Paying it on time isn’t always easy. For thousands of Canadians, paying rent requires making a choice between meeting one financial obligation or another, but they overwhelmingly make rent a top priority.
If there’s one misconception about landlords, it’s that they’re rich. While many do eventually make the ascension from mortal and mogul, most real estate investors own, or are still paying off, a relatively small assemblage of residential properties. With cap rates shrinking across the country, many of these investors are grateful to reach month-end without an unforeseen maintenance emergency wiping out the few hundred dollars in cash flow they rely on to make their investments worthwhile.
Until now, credit scores have only acted as a roadblock in the renting process — a test would-be tenants have to pass in order to convince landlords they’re trustworthy. But a new initiative from the Toronto-based Landlord Credit Bureau (LCB) is promising to make renting an essential part of building up your credit score.